Yes, We ARE Suffering

[McCamy Taylor]

If an American goes to bed hungry tonight, and ABC News decides to talk about Casey Anthony instead, does the hungry American still have hunger pains?

If a disabled American veteran comes home to find that his job has been shipped overseas and his house has been (illegally) foreclosed and the VA is too crowded to treat his medical problems, I would think long and hard before telling him “You have it a lot better than some other folks in history. At least you can sleep on your parent’s sofa. At least they feed you. Be grateful for what you have.”

Yes, I am sure that the veteran is grateful. Grateful that his parents have postponed their retirement to help take care of their grown kids. Grateful that he still has parents who care and understand, even when he wakes up at night in a panic, not sure if he is home or back in Baghdad. But, he would be a little more grateful if the politicians in Washington acted as if they cared and understood.

No man is an island. When one of us is in pain, we are all in pain. That’s why the press and the nation’s more fortunate have chosen to ignore the plight of the homeless, the unemployed, the uninsured, the hungry and the hopeless. If those is power close their eyes to the suffering around them, or---better yet---if they dismiss their pleas for help as the narcissistic whining of over pampered, over privilege Americans’ who do not understand that they are simply living at the wrong end of a bell curve, then they can also ignore the fact that someone’s sweat and labor paid for the $300 bottle of wine which they will enjoy tonight.

In some ways, wealth disparity is a worse problem than simple poverty. Medical studies have shown that people who live in countries where everyone struggles to survive have better self esteem and better health than those who live in a nation (like ours) where the gap between the haves and the have-nots is widening. Living in poverty in a wealthy nation means that you have been told by society “You don’t count.” Never mind how hard you have served your country as a teacher, soldier, construction worker. Being told “You don’t have it so bad. Shut up so the rest of us can enjoy what we’ve got” is just another way of saying “It is unpatriotic to complain.” And when you put the state or the party or the prestige of a corporate CEO before the individual, you get pretty damn close to fascism.

[McCamy Taylor]

1. Here is a link about the public health effects of wealth disparity.

http://books.google.com/books?id=hNkuc0qn2ksC&pg=PR5&lpg=PR5&dq=Unhealthy+Societies+The+Afflictions+of+Inequality+The+symptoms+of+disintegration+Social+Cohesion+and+Social+Conflict&source=web&ots=WPOGhltVHH&sig=9BkfORsd48HdXM7iPlUrWcG5vto&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPA153,M1

The book is Unhealthy Societies: The Afflictions of Inequality by Richard G. Wilkinson

From the intro:

This book brings together a growing body of new evidence which shows that life expectancy in different countries is dramatically improved where income differences are smaller and societies are more socially cohesive. The social links between health and inequality draw attention to the fact that social, rather than material, factors are now the limiting component in the quality of life in developed societies.

(My bold).

[Taverner]

2. "While there is a lower class, I am in it..."

"...hile there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free."

--Eugene Debs

[fishwax]

3. somehow they never apply the "you've got it a lot better than x" logic to the wealthy and their

tax rate.

[BobbyBoring]

4. At least those of us that still have some sense of compassion

And we're a dying lot.

[midnight]

5. Wealth disparity should be illegal...

[999998th word]

6. You only get to vote for a dictator-once' as the saying goes

Pushing through voter disenfranchising bills @ an alarming rate.
If you are no longer capable of working for low pay and no benefits,are old ,or ill,you are deemed a 'useless eater'
This seems like a nightmare and I'll wake up soon.I wish.

[Cereal Kyller]

7. K&R

Because there are some---and not all of 'em are rich---who still do not understand.

[WillyT]

8. HUGE K & R !!!

:applause::applause::applause:

:kick:

[awoke_in_2003]

9. too late to rec...

here's a kick.

[Overseas]

10. The Equality Trust in the UK has been comparing societies with various levels of wealth inequality

http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/why/evidence

Physical Health, Mental Health, Imprisonment, etc.

Charts comparing various countries.

The evidence supports your recent posts.